Personal Demons

By: Lisa Desrochers

Narrated by: Michael Nathanson, Sara Barnett

Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

If you had to choose between Heaven and Hell, which would it be? Are you sure about that...?

Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a wicked streak. She's spent years keeping everyone at a distance - even her closest friends - and it seems her senior year will be more of the same...until Luc Cain enrolls in her class. No one knows where he came from, but Frannie can't seem to stay away from him. What she doesn't know is that Luc works in Acquisitions - for Hell - and she possesses a unique skill set that has the king of Hell tingling with anticipation. All Luc has to do is get her to sin, and he's as tempting as they come. Frannie doesn't stand a chance.

Unfortunately for Luc, Heaven has other plans, and the angel, Gabe, is going to do whatever it takes to make sure that Luc doesn't get what he came for. And it isn't long before they find themselves fighting for more than just her soul.

But if Luc fails, there will be Hell to pay...for all of them.

©2010 Lisa Desrochers (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic Reviews

What the Critics Say:

“Personal Demons is as scary--and sexy--a book as I’ve read in a long time.” (Claudia Gray, best-selling author of Hourglass)

"Fun and entertaining . . . the fight for Frannie’s soul isn’t going to be easy, and the excitement doesn’t stop. Good versus evil shouldn’t be this much fun, but it is! A hot debut.” (Maria V. Snyder, best-selling author of Fire Study)

Really Good

I read a lot of YA and I'm not a YA.....this was really romantic without being too sappy or "highschool-y". A fun listen

YA urban romance fantasy

This is a nice story and easy listening - with a mix of supernatural romance, a tiny bit of action (really only a little) and of course a lot of teenage hormones spilling out...

But what makes it really a nice listening are the two narrators (hardly ever had the joy of a good narrator managing different characters convincingly) who take turns telling the story for the two (or three, well you will find out) main characters

If you expect big action, a great teary love story or heroes who really deal with their "personal demons" - you might be disappointed... but for the rest of us, who sometimes just likes easy-going, typical YA urban romance fantasy (I would call it that) - this is your book!

Read it...don’t listen

Great story! Well thought out and written. Imaginative, romantic, and funny. My only criticism is the female narrator. She sounds like she’s about twelve or thirteen years old and it is quite disturbing and distracting to listen to her trying to be breathy and sexy. I almost couldn’t finish but, the story kept me hanging on. I’m pretty bummed as I am sucked in to the story line but only have time to listen as I drive about town daily. I want to know how the story ends!

So much potential wasted on bad writing.

Ok so the writing itself isn’t terrible but it’s just missing entirely. The whole love triangle isn’t feasible at all. It should not have even been attempted. This book just goes through the motions and hits the checkpoints. No elaboration, no character development, no enticing qualities. And the female narrator sounds pre-teen with a cold. Definitely detracts from the story. I am so disappointed.

I just don't know yet

I don't like the voice of the girl, sorry Just doesn't work for me too "wavery" (is that a word?) and the boy I don't know. Maybe I'm just not used to this. Will read it the traditional way on my kindle. Sorry.

super

enjoyed this story very much, a good love triangle. can't wait to start the next book.

SARA BARNETT voice has got to go!

Any additional comments?

The book was good. I love Michael's voice. He does a great job with Luc's voice and all, which is the only reason why I kept listening but Sara Barnett's should not read anymore. She got the worst voice ever!! She sounds like a 12 year old. Totally ruined the main chicks image. The story overall, though, was OK. I would listen to the second book as long as Sara is no longer reading!!!

A "Hell" of a book! Pun intended.

The book is divided into two distinct narrative voices, those of Luc and Frannie. Michael Nathanson narrated Luc's narratives and Sara Barnett voiced Frannie's. At first I thought they had cast too young a voice for Frannie, but Barnett's expression and emotional clarity quickly won me over. She made DesRochers' writing take on an extra dimension. Michael Nathanson's narration was actually kind of swoon-worthy. I think I could listen to that guy read the phonebook and I'd be quite content.


Luc is a demon and his job is to tag Frannie's soul for Hell. He has lived for thousands of years and was born in Hell itself. He is not a good guy. However, when Luc meets Frannie, something about her changes him and eventually he has to choose between being damned to torture in the Lake of Fire for all of eternity, or walking away from Frannie and letting her seek comfort in the arms (not to mention wings) of her angel protector, Gabe.


So, Luc or Gabe? It seems like an easy choice, right? Both want her, both end up loving her, but whereas Luc needs to damn Frannie to Hell, Gabe can offer her Heaven. It should be easy, but DesRochers works the narrative so that you can't help but want all the wrong things for Frannie, even though the result of her choosing Luc seems like a damnable mistake.


I found myself completely enthralled in Frannie's confusion and, as a reader, I didn't know what I wanted for her! The two male leads, Gabe and Luc left me feeling off balance and I therefore empathised with our heroine. However, she seemed a little flakey at times and I just wished she'd make a decision and stop basking in the attention. Then again, if I had the likes of Luc and Gabe lusting after me (though I suppose only Luc is capable of lust...it being a sin and all), I'm not sure I'd want to cut either of them loose either.